The DIY Space Capsule is Leaking – But Who Cares

Yesterday, our space capsule was finally pressurized. Such a test marks a major step in the capsule production with most parts for the hull finally done such as external pressurization system and the hatch.

The test was done to mainly verify if the general construction and welding was done accordingly to the Copenhagen Suborbitals standard ISO-GE (ISO – Good Enough). Also, a test like this will show if the 1 mm rubber seal between the hull and hatch door and screw-seals performs as we were hoping for.

Our first pressurization test was one for the retard-books. After spending an hour attaching the hatch even making sure we have remembered to turn off the cabin-lighting we began pressurization. We could hear air going into the cabin but the manometer didn’t move much. Maybe some? And we began inspecting the capsule for leaks with a solution of water and soap to spot any bobbling.

After much happiness seeing there were no leaks the manometer still haven’t moved and I realized that I have forgotten to close the four ½” openings inside the capsule used for running wires outside the hull while containing internal pressure.

So, hatch off – hatch on. And I forgot to turn off the light.

Pressurization was performed once again and this time the manometer rose quickly. Now, the real soap-inspection could begin.

We could verify that the hatch was holding pressure beautifully but spotted a few minor leaks on the capsule. But all in all we were very happy about the result after months of work on the construction.

We could perform welding on the leak-spots but we will probably just take an internal silicone tour or maybe just let it be. The capsule lost about 0.05 bars during a period of 24 hours which is well within the ISO-GE for a successful 2 hour suborbital mission.

However, we want to change the rubber seals for the hatch screws and the IP68 connectors for the external control panel has not been installed yet which means we will perform a new test in near future.

Another requirement is actually to test the capsule with a 1.5 bars delta-pressure resulting in app 15 tonnes per square meter internally. But since this boiler plate capsule will never fly into space I’m not so sure I want to risk blowing up the capsule. What do you think?